Amazon: HRM, Organizational Theory, and Response to Workplace Change

This report examines the application of human resource management and organizational theory within Amazon, focusing on the impact of workplace changes, particularly those induced by the COVID-19 pandemic. It begins by outlining the principles of HRM and its role in managing employees ...Read More

ORGANIZATIONS
AND PEOPLE

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION....................................................................................................................3
MAIN BODY............................................................................................................................3
CONCLUSION.......................................................................................................................10
REFERENCES.......................................................................................................................11

INTRODUCTION
Human resource management is the practice of recruiting, hiring, developing and
managing employees of an organization. However, human resource management focuses on
employees as assets and human capital of business which is helpful in making effective use
of employees through which risk can be minimized and return on investments can be
maximized (Human resource management, 2020). The role of HRM practice is to manage
people within the workplace through which organizational mission and objectives can be
accomplished. Amazon is an American multinational technology company which offers e-
commerce, cloud computing, digital streaming and artificial intelligence. The company was
founded by Jeff Bezos in July, 1994. Amazon is currently operating worldwide and is a well-
established industry with the help of their technological innovation and mass scale. This
report will discuss the theory of human resource management and organizational theory. The
study will outline individual challenges and team issues which has been faced by business
due to change in workplace. The project will determine the changes to workplace at different
level such as culture, HRM strategy and leadership styles. Lastly, the study will outline the
response of organization to pandemic and its outcomes.
MAIN BODY
Human resource management is the organizational function of business which
manages conflicts related to people or human capital in the organization. Human resource
management is a comprehensive and strategic approach which encourages employees to
contribute effectively and ensures overall organizational productivity which is helpful in
meeting organizational objectives (What is human resource management, 2021). In context
of Amazon, the human resource management of the organization inspire their employees and
focuses on meeting their level of satisfaction which supports Amazon in maintaining their
creativity and performance within the industry at domestic and global level.
Employee Lifecycle
Employee lifecycle is an organizational approach which is used to visualize how
employees engages with the organization. There are different stages which are followed
throughout the employee lifecycle. In simpler terms, employee lifecycle can be termed as the
journey of employee within an organization. In context of Amazon, the employee lifecycle is
an HR model which determines different stages that employees follow throughout their

period in the organization. In context of Amazon, a descriptive stages of employee lifecycle
have been addressed below:
Stage 1: Attraction- This is the first stage of employee lifecycle which is the
employee attraction stage. In order to develop a strong brand image to attract employees, an
organization must focus on offering various benefits and compensation to their employees
through which their demands can be met and organization can keep their human capital
motivated (Stages of employee lifecycle, 2020). In context of Amazon, the company focuses
on maintain a positive organizational culture, reward employees with attractive benefits and
compensation through which their level of motivation can be increased and greater number of
talented personnel’s can be attracted.
Stage 2: Recruitment- This is the second stage of employee lifecycle which is
employee recruitment stage where an organization can recruit best talent to their
organization. In order to recruitment, Amazon recruit talented personnel through employee
referrals from their existing team, align with different recruitment companies and focus on
specific qualification and set of skills which they are looking for.
Stage 3: Onboarding- This is the third stage of employee lifecycle which is
employee onboarding stage where top talents are onboarded and gain knowledge regarding
the function which needs to be performed by them. In context of Amazon, in order to ensure
successful onboarding stage Amazon defines a clear job description through which the
recruited candidate can understand their duties and roles and the organization discuss is their
vision and values which are followed by business.
Stage 4: Development- have this stage of employee life cycle is employee
development phase where employees are consistently encouraged for professional
development as an individual and as team which will be helpful in creating a future career
path within the organization (Cano-Kollmann, Hannigan and Mudambi, 2018). In context of
Amazon, the company promotes external learning and by encouraging team members to be
responsible for their own development, appraise and reward employees who enhance their
skills and knowledge by learning within quick time period.
Stage 5: Retention- This is the fifth stage of employee lifecycle which is employee
retention stage. In this stage, the culture of organization is essential factors which creates an
impact on employee retention. In context of Amazon, the company focuses on hiring the right
people, create strong interpersonal relationship with team members through which whole

organization can effectively work and create a positive working scenario through which
business can retain higher number of employees.
Stage 6: Separation- This is the final stage of employee lifecycle which is employee
separation stage. This this stage defines when employee reach to their conclusion in the
organization where they separate themselves from the organization via retirement, new
employment opportunity and for personal reasons (Hamel and Zanini, 2020). In this stage,
Amazon focuses on understanding the purpose of employees behind their resignation through
which they can maintain a good relationship with them and such practices are helpful in
creating a positive impact on the brand image of business which also increases the chance of
employees of applying for the vacancy back to the organization. Amazon focuses on being
positive and ask for honest feedback from the employees which will be helpful in
understanding their opinion of how they feel while working in the organization.
McKinsey 7’s model
McKinsey model is a model which is used to determine the organizational design of
business by analyzing the 7 components which are classified into hard and soft elements. The
seven components of the framework are- strategy, structure, systems, shared values, styles,
staff and skills and these elements are helpful in aligning business activities and allows
business in achieving their objectives (McKinsey 7’s model, 2021). In context of Amazon, the
company focus on facilitating organizational change successfully through using this
framework. The company implements this model which helps the in implementing a new
strategy to organization. However, with the help of McKinsey model, this helps Amazon in
evaluating how each area can be changed and transformed in future. A detailed
implementation of McKinsey model in Amazon has been discussed below:

Source: McKinsey 7’s model, 2021
Strategy- Amazon operates on a cost-leadership strategy. The world's largest online
retailer has been able to continue this approach due to economies of scale, innovation in
several business processes and ongoing firm diversity. Furthermore, Amazon's business
strategy focuses on developing communication among the many components of its
ecosystem. The Amazon ecosystem includes merchants, authors, reviews, publishers, app
developers and the information market of commentators, analysts, journalists and feature
writers.
Structure- Amazon is structured in a hierarchical system. Due to its vast scale, the
firm finds it difficult to adjust to a new structure, such as divisional or matrix. The e-
commerce giant employs over 647,500 people worldwide and serves hundreds of millions of
customers (Amazon McKinsey 7s model, 2020). Two major elements of Amazon's
organizational structure are the firm's flexibility, which is rare for a company of this size and
the top management's stability, i.e. limited turnover in the senior management team.
Systems- Amazon's business is made possible through a variety of strategies.
Employee recruitment and selection systems, team development and orientation systems,
transaction processing systems, customer relationship management systems, business
intelligence systems, knowledge management systems and others are examples of these
systems. The organization examines each of these systems on a regular basis in order to
improve their performance and as a result, the company's competitive edge.
Shared values- Amazon's core values are developed and communicated in order to
promote a creative and supportive organizational culture that helps employees to perform at
their best while also enhancing their motivation and organizational commitment. Creativity,
honesty, openness, responsibility, trust, quality and legacy are just a few of Amazon's core
principles. Amazon encourages a diverse and inclusive work environment (McKinsey
framework of Amazon, 2020). Amazon seems to have a global footprint with manufacturing
operations in various countries; as a result, the company guarantees that its organizational
culture is supportive of diversity and that internal anti-discrimination measures are in place.
Skills- Skills relate to the abilities that a company's employees have which
includes talents and skills of employees. Amazon sees value in hiring the best workers and
investing in their development so that they may continue to progress. Amazon promotes the
development of its employees' skills and competencies. It regularly holds training and

seminars for its employees, both internally and externally managed, in order to provide
opportunities for growth and development. Amazon promotes its employees' personal and
professional growth and collaborates closely with them.
Staff- The personnel aspect is concerned with the type and number of employees
required by the organization, as well as how they will be employed, taught, motivated, and
rewarded (McKinsey analysis of Amazon Inc, 2021). Amazon continues to invest in its staff,
rewarding them with great promotional opportunities in exchange for their creativity and
good performance.
Style- The manner top-level executives run the company and interact is referred to as
their style. Employees at Amazon support their leadership's aim by dressing informally to put
employees at ease and help them perform better.
Individual challenges and team issues
The global pandemic has been responsible to bring change in the organization. Such
changes du to COVID-19 had made business face huge issues and challenges while operating
in the industry and while cooperating with employees. Due to COVID-19, some of the issues
and challenges which has been faced by Amazon is further discussed below:
Incline in workload issues- Due to change in workplace this has created an immense
impact on the organization and thus the change due to COVID-19, this has shifted the offline
working to work from home which has made employees struggle due to incline in workload.
In context of Amazon, the employees have struggles and faced challenges due to work from
home where the workload has been increased and such issues created a negative impact on
their performance and productivity.
Job insecurity- As the global pandemic has resulted to make business face huge
financial crises, this has been an issue in the minds of employees which affected their
performance level in the organization (Leroy and et.al, 2018). In context of Amazon, the
employees of the company have faced the fear of job insecurity and such challenges are
responsible to hinder individual and team performance while the change in workplace such as
work from home.
Balancing quality and growth- Due to change in workplace, this has created
imbalance among quality and growth for an organization. In context of Amazon, the

company faces the challenges of balancing the quality and growth in their organization while
they shifted to work from home due to the advised protocols of COVID-19.
Poor communication- Due to change in workplace such as shift to work from home,
this has affected communication within the organization and created gap between individuals
and teams. In context of Amazon, the company faced the challenges of communication
among individuals and team as this affected the ability of employees to effectively
communicate and thus such issues were responsible for sacrificing the organization
productivity and effectiveness.
Lack of participation- Due to shift in workplace from in office to work from home,
this has been the source which has created an impact on the employee engagement and their
participation in meeting organizational objectives (Martin and Siebert, 2016). In context of
Amazon, the company has shifted their workplace due to COVID-19 to work from home and
this has declined the employee engagement within the managerial practices and such issues
influenced individual ad team performance.
Identification of changes to workplace culture, HRM strategy and leadership styles
Culture- Due to change in workplace and shift in workplace to work from home, this
has created positive impact and negative impact on the organization. Due to pandemic, this
has reduced the social interaction which has been a source of lack of communication, poor
organization innovation and thus affected the relationship of employees and employers. Due
to pandemic, many people have understood the value of their jobs and this has enhanced has
also reduced gender inequalities. In context of Amazon, the change in workplace has
enhanced the organization culture of Amazon where employees feel they can work remotely
from the comforts of their home and meet organizational objectives. Therefore, such
employee motivation enhances employee performance and created positive organizational
culture.
People- Due to global pandemic, this has been responsible to bring change in human
capital of an organization. The human capital or people of business has faced fear of job
security as many employees has lost their job due to the uncertainty in the economy (Moeran,
2021). Poor communication among employees while working from home has also created a
negative impact on the organization as this resulted in scenarios where employees are not
able to meet organizational demand and their performance standards decreased. In context of
Amazon, the change in workplace enhanced employee motivation level and boosted their

confidence of working effectively while at home and such practices strengthen the human
capital of organization.
Leadership- due to changes in birth place because of global pandemic COVID-19,
this has also created an impact on leadership. As the protocols of security for COVID-19 this
reduced social interaction and was responsible to affect the communication among leaders
and employees. Leaders were not able to effectively communicate and influence other
members of the organization due to lack of personal interaction. In context of Amazon, the
leaders of the organization focused on regularly communicating with their teams through
which they can ensure effective organizational performance.
HRM strategy- Due to change in workplace because of COVID-19, this has created
pressure an organization to bring change in HRM strategy of business. Such scenarios
promoted more employee centric strategies where they can feel secured and safe while
working with the organization and such practices will be helpful in reducing employee
turnover (Romanelli, 2018). In context of Amazon, the company brought change to their
HRM strategy which can be helpful in promoting and encouraging employees to effectively
participate in managerial activities and meet organizational objectives in timely manner.
Through such change in HRM strategies, business performance and productivity of
employees and whole organization can be maintained.
Outcomes of global pandemic to workplace
The global pandemic, COVID-19 has created immense negative impact on business
and the overall economy. As the global pandemic has created adverse impact, this has been
responsible for bringing positive change to organization as well. Some of the positive and
negative outcomes which has been faced by business are listed below:
Increased digital access- The global pandemic is responsible to bring change in
physical workplace and shifted to online business which has increased the use of digital
technology and it’s medium in business (Positive impact of COVID-19 on business, 2021). In
context of Amazon, the organization has faced benefits due to incline in use of digital
technology which made business attract a greater number of customers, generate higher
revenues and maximize their profitability. As Amazon is an e-commerce business platform,
the growth in such business has been increased and therefore, the global pandemic has been
the source of benefits and catalyst of success for business.

Labor shortage- The global pandemic is one of the reasons where an organization
face issues and this is a negative outcome of COVID-19. As labor can also be affected by the
pandemic and in order to stay safe, they are advised to stay home or will be forced to. In
order to maintain the safety and security of labors, they end up by following social distancing
to avoid the spread of deadly virus and this has been the source of leading to labor shortage
(Ways how COVID impact business, 2020). In context of Amazon, as the company also
operates via ecommerce business platform where they deliver goods to consumers and due to
shortage of supply, this has increased the workload on available labor and had also created
the inability of organization to meet customer demand in timely manner.
CONCLUSION
From the above-mentioned information, it can be concluded that human resource
management is an essential practice of organization which focuses on meeting organizational
objective by boosting the morale of their human capital and ensuring effective organizational
performance. It can be understood that employee lifecycle is a continuous process which is a
reflection of employee journey within the organization. The McKinsey model is a framework
which defines the organizational change and how business can successfully bring
transformation to organization through which their organizational effectiveness and
efficiency can be enhanced. it can be seen that the shift in workplace such as from in office
jobs to working from home came with several challenges and made business face different
issues which affected the operations and profitability of the organization. It can be stated that
global pandemic has brought positive as well as negative consequences. The pandemic has
made business face advanced the use of digital technology which has been helpful in
reducing cost and enhancing efficiency of the organization.

REFERENCES
Books and journals
Cano-Kollmann, M., Hannigan, T. J. and Mudambi, R., 2018. Global innovation networks–
organizations and people. Journal of International Management. 24(2). pp.87-92.
Hamel, G. and Zanini, M., 2020. Humanocracy: Creating organizations as amazing as the
people inside them. Harvard Business Press.
Leroy, H and et.al., 2018. Managing people in organizations: Integrating the study of HRM
and leadership.
Martin, G. and Siebert, S., 2016. Managing people and organizations in changing contexts.
Routledge.
Moeran, B., 2021. The business of ethnography: Strategic exchanges, people and
organizations. Routledge.
Romanelli, M., 2018. Organizations and people for sustainability. Management Dynamics in
the Knowledge Economy. 6(1). pp.117-128.
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